Sensitive Side
by Lothlome
Summary: James has come up with the perfect scheme to win Lily's heart, with a little help from the Marauders, but as his plan is put into action he learns that maybe Lily isn't as perfect for him as he thought.JPLE.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: The Harry Potter Universe and its characters belong solely to JKR and Warner Bros.**

**A/N: Andromache, who you'll meet towards the middle of the chapter, is one of my OC's, whose backstory I won't trifle you with at present. She was originally made for a separate story, but I thought she would be the perfect character to play middle man between Lily and James in this fic. The only thing I need to tell you about her is that she's Sirius's sister, making this slightly AU. Just a warning, in case this tiny bit of canon manipulation bothers you. That being said...on to the fic! Hope you enjoy! Lothlome**

Chapter 1

James slumped into his usual seat at the Gryffindor house table in the Great Hall. He was feeling that unusual high that only came to him after spending a few hours on the Quidditch field, except this time his head was not reeling because of Quidditch. After many days of arguing, debating, and three annoyingly long and pointless prefect meetings, he had finally won against Lily and gotten his wish. They were going to have a social (a social, not a dance, dances were the types of things giggly girls suggested, not cool, debonair Quidditch players did) for the fifth, sixth, and seventh years the weekend right before Easter holiday. James was quite pleased with himself for coming up with the idea, this was his perfect chance to _finally _get Lily Evans to go out with him, and the best thing was she didn't even realize that this was what the social was all about. Lily thought it was merely another one of James ways of annoying her. Lily could be so foolish sometimes.

"You look happy," Remus observed as James helped himself to some pork chops.

"I am happy, Moony, _very _happy," he responded with a grin.

"I really don't like the way you said that," Remus said, sounding extremely disconcerted. James wiggled his eyebrows at Remus suggestively, but said nothing; the latter merely sighed and returned to reading his book.

"So, why _are_ you so cheerful?" Sirius inquired, tearing into a biscuit like a rabid dog. "You just got back from another arguing session with Lily."

"It wasn't an arguing session this time," James said defensively. Sirius' eyes widened, and James could see the thousands of dirty thoughts swimming behind them.

"You finally snogged her?" he asked in a perverted fascination. "It's about bloody time! Okay Prongs, details." He leaned across the table expectantly. James rolled his eyes.

"Don't I wish," he grumbled. Sirius furrowed his brow in confusion.

"She didn't snog you? Why are you happy then?"

"Contrary to popular belief, Padfoot, people can be happy for reasons other than sexual ones," Remus said pointedly. Sirius snorted.

"The only people who say that are the ones who don't get enough action," Sirius retorted with a smirk.

"It's exhausting being with you," Remus sighed, returning to the book he had been reading.

"Anyway," James interjected, before Sirius could fit in another word, "I'm happy because I finally got Lily to agree to put on that social I told you guys about." The other three Marauders collectively groaned.

"The dance thing?" Peter complained.

"It's not a dance," James said defensively. Sirius rolled his eyes.

"Whatever you say, Prongs." James glared at Sirius through puckered eyes.

"The point is," he continued, "I can finally execute my plan."

"The "ask Lily to the dance, get her to fall in love with you, go make out in a broom closet" plan?" Sirius inquired. James smiled triumphantly.

"That's the one," he verified.

"You are so pathetic," Sirius sighed. "How many times have I told you to just give up on Evans, already? She doesn't like you. Or has that not been clear from the 700 times she's turned you down for a date?"

"She likes me, she just doesn't know it yet," James responded. "Besides, it was 699." Sirius' head dropped to the table and he let out a groan.

"Who are you and what have you done with my best friend?" he demanded of the floor.

"Sirius!" Padfoot's head immediately popped up at the sound of his twin sister's voice. He took a quick scan of Andromache's facial expression, she looked pretty pissed.

"Great, what did I do now?" he wondered aloud.

"Something stupid," James replied. Sirius glared at him.

"You are so helpful," he said sarcastically.

"I try," James said with a shrug. Sirius was interrupted from his retort as Andromache finally reached the area where the Marauders had been enjoying a pleasant lunch.

"Hello Andromache, care to join us?" Sirius asked cheerfully.

"Is there a reason why Cathy Laurence asked me to give these to you?" Andromache demanded, holding up what was undoubtedly a pair of Sirius' boxers. "Hey! I've been looking for those, they're my favorite pair," Sirius said, taking the boxers out of Andromache's hand and inspecting them in the light streaming in from the windows. "Hmm…they look cleaner than I remember." The other three Marauders snickered, as Andromache let out an exasperated sigh.

"Idiot!" she exclaimed, smacking Sirius in the back of the head, pulling the boxers out of his hands, and shoving them into his school bag.

"Hey! What the Hell was that for?" Sirius demanded.

"For being a prat," she retorted. "What is Cathy doing with your boxers in the first place?" Sirius shrugged.

"How should I know?" he replied. "I can't stop every one of my avid fan girls from breaking into my dorm and stealing an article of my clothing." James snickered into his goblet. Sirius was definitely playing with fire on this one.

"First of all, Cathy isn't even in Gryffindor, she's a Ravenclaw, she couldn't break into our dorm if she tried," Andromache pointed out. "Secondly, the fact that I know your girlfriends better than you do…"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah…I should respect the girls I date…being a playboy is nothing to be proud of…blah, blah, blah…I've heard this speech a thousand times already, Andromache. Can I get the express version?" Sirius asked boredly. Andromache rolled her eyes.

"Fine," she said in a strained voice, "stop acting like such a prick or I'm going to give you a taste of your own medicine."

"What does that mean?" Sirius demanded, suddenly very attentive to Andromache's every word. James, Remus, and Peter all exchanged amused looks. Andromache shrugged, and took a seat at the table beside her brother.

"Oh nothing," she responded coquettishly. Sirius looked at James with wide eyes.

"I really do not like the sound of this," he said. James shook his head.

"So, what's been going on with you boys? Anything new?" she inquired, ignoring the stares Sirius was giving her as he tried to decipher the meaning of her words.

"James finally convinced Lily to have that dance thing," Peter told her.

"It's a social," James corrected.

"Whatever," Peter said with a shrug.

"Well done, James," Andromache complimented. He smiled.

"Thanks. Listen 'Dromache, can I ask you something?"

"Yeah."

"You're a girl, right?" James began.

"It took you this long to notice?" Andromache said with a smirk. "Is that how I've managed to escape the infamous 4th floor closet?"

"Look, I know you're a girl. You escaped the closet because you're Sirius' sister," James told her.

"Good to know it's good for something," Andromache teased, giving Sirius a nudge in the ribs.

"Anyway," James continued, "I wanted to ask you, since this dance is coming up…"

"I thought it was a social," Peter said with a smirk. James rolled his eyes and sighed in exasperation.

"Whatever," he said in annoyance, "look, I want to ask Lily to this dance, and I was wondering if you could just put in a good word for me."

"Prongs, I put in a good word for you everyday, she's still not going to go out with you," Andromache said reasonably.

"Come on," James begged, "you're her best friend, that has to count for something. Doesn't she trust your judgment?"

"Not really," Andromache said thoughtfully.

"'Dromache!" James demanded.

"All right, I'll put in a good word for you," she agreed. "Just stop acting so pathetic, it's freaking me out." Sirius looked at James pointedly.

"I told you." James rolled his eyes at his best friend and returned to his sandwich, feeling a lot happier now that he knew he had Andromache's backing.

"But if I'm going to do this, you have to promise me something," Andromache told him. James exchanged a wary look with Sirius.

"Okay…" he said slowly, wondering what he was getting himself into.

"Promise you'll try to stop acting so…"

"Prickish," Peter finished for her.

"Yeah," Andromache said nervously, as she watched James' face contort into an expression of outrage.

"I am not prickish!" James said defensively.

"Well I know that," Andromache said quickly before James could get the wrong idea, though she was pretty sure that boat had already sailed. "It's just…whenever you're around Lily you act sort of…arrogant. You could try being a little nicer to her."

"I am plenty nice to Evans," James protested.

"You see, right there, you called her _Evans_ not _Lily_," Andromache pointed out.

"I hardly see what that has to do with…I mean, I was just trying to…completely off the point…," James sputtered defensively. He continued to open and close his mouth soundlessly for a few minutes before finally shoving his sandwich into his mouth to keep himself from talking.

"Look James, I'm not trying to say you need to completely revamp your personality. I mean, I love you, but Lily doesn't spend as much time with you as I do. You have to show her your good side is all," Andromache said pacifying.

"Well how am I supposed to do that?" he asked hopelessly. He felt his stomach slowly starting to sink down into the floor.

"You're a smart guy, you can figure it out," Andromache said as she began collecting her things.

"Where are you going?" James demanded. "I need you to teach me how to be nice to people!"

"I just saw Lily leave the Hall," Andromache responded with a knowing smile. "Do you want me to talk you up, or what?" The smile on James' face was so wide that his skin was in danger of splitting open.

"I love you!" he exclaimed happily. Andromache chuckled and rolled her eyes.

"What else is new?" With that she ran across the hall to catch up with the recently departed Lily. Once she was gone James turned to his fellow Marauders with a pained expression.

"How the Hell am I supposed to act nice?" he asked. Sirius looked at him thoughtfully.

"I dunno, you can always do what I do," he suggested. James raised an eyebrow at him.

"Which is?"

"You know, pretend to be interested in her, girls always like it when you're interested in them," Sirius told him. Remus sighed heavily and closed his book on his thumb.

"How about _actually_ being interested in her?" he asked in annoyance.

"I don't follow," Sirius said, squinting his eyes at Remus in confusion. Moony rolled his eyes and looked at his three friends; they all had the same bemused expression on their face.

"Of course you don't," he sighed. "All right boys, it looks like we have a lot of work to do."

"Hold on!" Sirius interrupted before Remus could continue. "Let me get some parchment for notes."

"Oh, good idea!" James agreed, diving down under the table to retrieve the desired articles from his bag. Remus wondered how many times he could roll his eyes before they actually fell out of his head.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

That afternoon James walked into History of Magic and took his usual seat. Unlike most students at Hogwarts he actually _liked _History of Magic. With Binns' being so inattentive, it was the only class that he was guaranteed to get away with anything he might be inclined to try. People so did under appreciate the blessing it was to have a brain dead teacher. He leaned forward across his desk and gave Andromache's long black hair a firm tug.

"Ow!" she said in a harsh whisper, as she turned around and glared at James. "Are you aware how painful that is, Prongs?" she demanded, rubbing the back of her head in an effort to dull the throbbing. James decided to ignore her irritation, and get right to the reason he had bothered her in the first place.

"Have you talked to her yet?" he asked quietly, casting an anxious look over at the red headed girl sitting beside Andromache. She was the only one still paying complete attention to Binns' lecture. James loved that about her, she was so focused on everything she did. The only thing he really ever gave his full attention to was Quidditch, not that it wasn't a worthy thing to focus on, but still, he thought it might be nice to concentrate on other things sometimes.

"Well, I was going to, but she was in a bad mood because she got a bad grade on her Arithmancy test," Andromache told him apologetically. "You know how she gets." Sirius snorted, but quickly became interested in his notes when Andromache and James glared at him.

"All right," James sighed, sounding rather put out. "Just let me know after you've talked to her, okay?" Andromache nodded with a smile and turned around to face the board.

"So I take it all does not go well with the 'Lily Situation'?" Sirius asked him in an undertone. James shook his head.

"No," he said shortly. Sirius sighed and looked at his friend thoughtfully.

"Look, I don't want to be a party to your obsession or anything," he began, "but I think I might have an idea." James raised an eyebrow at him.

"Yeah?" he said warily. Sirius nodded.

"Here's the thing, I get quite a bit of information about Lily with Andromache being my sister, so I happen to know for a fact that Arithmancy isn't exactly Lily's forte. Now if I recall correctly, you're a natural at the subject…well, at least that's what Professor Vector wrote on all the homework I copied from you." James rolled his eyes and smirked.

"What's your point, Padfoot?" he asked in amusement.

"Why don't you offer to tutor Lily in Arithmancy?" Sirius suggested. "It's a perfect chance to practice that nice and considerate bull crap Remus was talking about at lunch today." James pondered Sirius' words, he did have a point. What better way to show Lily his nice side then by helping her with her school work?

"You know, Padfoot, this may not be such a bad idea," James said with a smile. Sirius just shrugged nonchalantly and leaned back in his chair.

"Of course it's a good idea, I came up with it," he said pompously. James grinned and began scribbling absently on a piece of parchment; he really loved the way their minds worked sometimes.

An hour or so later History of Magic ended, most students hurried out of the door as fast as humanly possible, glad to be free of Binns' endless droning. Lily Evans, on the other hand, was busy collecting the pages of notes she had taken during the lecture, and carefully placing them in her bag. Andromache stood by her side, looking around the room boredly.

"Remember what you promised," James whispered as he passed by her.

"Don't worry about it," she shot back. James smiled and exited; Sirius winked a good bye to his sister as he left the room. Andromache looked back down at Lily, who was still collecting herself.

"Almost done, Lily?" she inquired, trying her best to keep the impatience out of her voice. If she wanted to talk James up she couldn't be in a sour mood.

"Just about," Lily said, slinging her bag onto her shoulder. "Ready for dinner?" Andromache nodded eagerly.

"Am I," she said laughing. Lily smiled, and the two girls headed out of the classroom, and toward the Great Hall.

"So, James tells me that there's definitely going to be a dance," Andromache said casually as they walked through the corridors. Lily exhaled heavily and rolled her eyes.

"Unfortunately yes," she said in annoyance. "Just another way for Potter to irritate me and put more work on my shoulders."

"I'm sure he'll want to help with the arrangements," Andromache argued. "This dance – social," she corrected herself, "is his brain child after all." Lily snorted in disbelief.

"Please, Potter's an idea person, he gives the orders and then expects everyone to run around and do his bidding. No, I'm going to be organizing this whole thing myself."

"I really don't think you're being fair," Andromache said with a pained expression, this conversation was already taking a turn she was sure she wasn't going to like. "You're making judgments on James, and you don't even really know him."

"I know him well enough," Lily said stubbornly. "He walks around the castle thinking he owns the place just because he can play Quidditch. He treats everyone as if he's their superior, and he torments innocent people just to get a few laughs from his friends." Andromache's nostrils flared angrily, but she refrained from pointing out the fact that Lily was one comment away from getting a good hexing.

"That's completely ridiculous," Andromache said. Lily looked at her pointedly.

"Oh, so you're saying Potter's a perfect angel, are you?" she inquired dryly. Andromache sighed heavily.

"Look, I'm willing to admit that James does have a bit of an ego problem." Lily snorted, "a bit" was a tad of an understatement. James' head was so inflated that she was surprised that he could make it through the doorways sometimes. "—but," Andromache continued, blatantly ignoring Lily's snicker, "he's not nearly as bad as he used to be. He's really matured since our fifth year." This time Lily broke into a fit of hysterical laughter. James Potter? Mature? Those were two words she would never consider putting in the same sentence. "He has!" Andromache said firmly, fighting with the anger at having one of her friends made fun of. "You just don't see it because you won't give him a chance. You're too determined to see his faults, so you can't see any of his good qualities."

"His only good quality is that he keeps the Quidditch Cup for Gryffindor, and even that isn't saying much," she said with an amused smile. Andromache glared at her. Why was she doing this again? So far the only thing she had gotten out of this was a migraine, and perhaps increased blood pressure.

"Oh stuff it Lily!" she exclaimed angrily. "Maybe if you just spent a little time with James you would realize what a great person he is. Until you do spend a little time with him, however, I suggest you not sit in judgment of people you don't really know." Lily bit her lip and looked at Andromache apologetically. She really hadn't meant to offend her, but she couldn't help it if she thought James was an arrogant git. The only time she had ever come in contact with him, he had been trying to ask her out or somehow make her life miserable. What was she supposed to think? That he was some reincarnation of Sir Lancelot?

"Sorry," she said quietly, "I guess I did get a bit carried away."

"It doesn't matter," Andromache said heavily, but Lily had a feeling that this time she really had taken it too far. "Listen, I promised Sirius I would have dinner with him tonight. Do you mind being left alone with the other girls?" Lily shook her head.

"No, in fact, it will give me a chance to talk to Alice about what we're going to do for this dance," Lily told her.

"Okay good, I'll see you later." Andromache stalked off irritably and slumped in between Remus and Peter at the table.

"Someone looks cheerful," Sirius commented dryly as Andromache began loading her plate with mashed potatoes.

"Please tell me this has nothing to do with a conversation gone wrong," James said desperately.

"Unfortunately, yes," she sighed. James hunched over in his seat in despair.

"Great, what'd she say?" he asked, wondering how bad it was going to be. Judging by the look on Andromache's face he was in for a real beating. Why did he have to be in love with the one person who hated his guts?

"Well, we never really got around to talking about how wonderful you are considering I was playing the defensive," Andromache told him. James rolled his eyes.

"Brilliant," he said caustically. "She's never going to go to the stupid dance with me."

"Social," Peter corrected before filling his mouth with steak. James glared at him from between his fingers.

"Thank you, Wormtail," he said bitingly. Peter missed the sarcasm.

"Happy to help," he replied.

"Now what am I going to do?" James demanded.

"The fact that she hates you has never stopped you before," Remus pointed out. James nodded in agreement.

"That is true," he said thoughtfully.

"Exactly," Sirius said, giving James an encouraging pat on the back. "Buck up, mate, you'll think of something."

"In other news, I am less than thrilled with Lily at the moment, so I was wondering if it would be okay if I crashed with you tonight, Sirius?" Andromache asked, stabbing at her broccoli listlessly.

"Yeah sure," Sirius said, "she really pissed you off tonight, huh?" Andromache rolled her eyes.

"That's a bit of an understatement," she said dryly. "I don't want to talk about it. Anyway, how goes your "nice training"?" she inquired, her tone changing from irritation to cheerfulness almost instantly. This did nothing to assure the Marauders of her mood.

"All right, I guess," James admitted. "Remus gave us some pretty good tips. You know, _ask her questions about herself_ and _be kind and courteous…wait more than two minutes before dragging them into the broom cupboard_ and all that kinda crap. I don't really remember, I have it written down somewhere."

"I said at least wait two dates until dragging them off to the broom cupboard," Remus clarified. "And for the record, I told you to avoid the broom cupboard if you can help it."

"Obviously a rule I'm not going to follow," Sirius said with a chuckle.

"Like you're going to follow any of them," Peter said reasonably. Sirius shook his head in agreement.

"Good point." Remus rolled his eyes.

"That's thirty six, so far," he muttered. Andromache smirked.

"Keeping track of how long it is before your eyes roll right out of your head?" she asked in amusement. Remus nodded wearily.

"Yes," he responded.

"You have a ways to go yet," she informed him. Remus sighed and cut himself a slice of cake.

"I was afraid of that."

"You guys act like you're dealing with morons," Sirius said. Remus and Andromache exchanged an eyebrow raise and looked back at Sirius.

"Hey! One more saucy remark like that and you can forget about sleeping in my bed tonight!" he exclaimed, earning some strange looks from a few fourth years.

"Thirty seven," Remus said dryly.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The next morning James decided that he was going to take the plunge and start following some of Remus' advice. All he had to do was get Lily alone for a few minutes, and he might be able to show her his decent side. He was walking down the hall to Transfiguration, and he could see Lily's vibrant red head a few paces ahead. He figured this was his perfect chance, considering she was alone, and he seriously doubted whether or not he would get another opportunity like this again.

"Man, I wish she wouldn't walk so fast," he complained to Sirius as they weaved their way through the crowd. Sirius smirked mischievously and pulled out his wand.

"I can fix that," he told James.

"What are you doing?" James demanded in an undertone. "It better not be anything stupid, Padfoot…"

"When are you going to learn to trust me, Prongs?" Sirius asked. James rolled his eyes. He wondered if he should start keeping a tally sheet like Remus. Sirius pointed his wand at Lily's bag, muttered a spell under his breath, and instantaneously the bottom of Lily's bag split open, spilling her books and papers everywhere. James looked at Sirius with wide eyes.

"You're welcome," Padfoot responded grinning, and with that he walked off to Transfiguration. James sighed, and went over to help Lily. This had to be one of Sirius' stupider ideas, but still, it was better than nothing.

"All right, Ev—Lily?" he asked, remembering what Andromache had said about girls being touchy about being called by their first names. Lily looked up at him and sighed in annoyance.

"Fine, Potter," she said irritably, and returned to collecting her things. James bent down beside her, and started to pick up a few of her papers.

"You look like you could use some help," he said casually.

"Well I don't," she said sharply. Why had he chosen now of all times to show up? It seemed James Potter was always around when she least wanted him to be. James ignored her, and continued to help her collect her things, much to her annoyance.

"So listen, I was wondering if you wouldn't mind meeting my in the Head's dormitories after dinner so we can discuss our plans for the whole dance thing," he continued conversationally. "I discussed it with some people to get a good idea of what everyone wants, you know? I thought maybe we could brain storm." James couldn't help but notice the look of surprise on Lily's face as he said this. He bit back a smile. Maybe Remus and Andromache did have a point about this being nice stuff. Lily sure did seem affected by it at least.

"Well…er…okay," Lily agreed nervously, quickly stuffing everything into her bag, and standing up. "After dinner then." She hurried off down the hall, leaving James alone in the deserted corridor. He smiled, and picked up a book Lily had left behind in her hurry. He had a feeling things were going to start picking up for him very soon.

Lily couldn't believe it. Had that really just been James Potter, or had it been some hallucination of her's? He had helped her pick up her books, taken the initiative on planning the dance, and he had called her Lily. She had to be dreaming. What had happened to the James Potter who was an arrogant git? The one who only took the time to talk to her when he wanted to ask her for a date? This was the first time in ages they had gotten through a conversation without him asking her out. It was strange. Maybe she had been wrong about him after all…then again; it could just be a fluke. Maybe she had just happened to run into him when he was in a good mood or something. She wasn't sure.

That afternoon Lily entered the library, determined to find out what was going on with James Potter. She slammed her school bag down on the table where Andromache had been working on her Charms essay, and stared at best friend pointedly.

"Have you been talking to James?" she demanded, glaring down at Andromache. The latter raised an eyebrow at her, and laid her quill down.

"Uh yeah, he sort of is my brother's best friend," she responded, as if she was talking to an imbecile. Lily sighed in agitation and sat down across from Andromache.

"That's not what I meant," she huffed. "I want to know if you said anything to him about the conversation we had the other day."

"You mean the one where you called him the most arrogant prat on the face of the earth?" Andromache asked as she resumed scribbling away on her parchment, pretending she wasn't even mildly interested in the proceedings.

"I'm not sure if I used that exact terminology, but yes, that's the conversation I'm referring to," Lily verified. Andromache rolled her eyes.

"No, why would I mention a conversation like that?" she asked in annoyance. "It's not like we routinely talk about all the bad things you have to say about James. We do have more important things to worry about," Andromache said, looking at Lily pointedly. She watched as her friend's face turned a light shade of pink and she couldn't help but smirk, James had better love her for this.

"Why do you ask?" Andromache inquired, changing her tone to one of mild curiosity.

"Well…it's just that…James was being sort of…I dunno…" Lily trailed off; she didn't know if she could actually bring herself to admit out loud that James had acted less than prickish this afternoon. The concept was still a little hard to grasp.

"Sort of what?" Andromache pressed, batting her eyelashes innocently.

"Sort of…nice," Lily said finally, and she found that a small smile had spread across her face. Andromache raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"Really?" Lily nodded and smiled down at the table.

"Yeah," she said breathlessly. She never realized how nice it would feel to think of James as being someone actually capable of human emotion. "He helped me pick up my books this afternoon in the hallway, and he told me he'd already started work on the dance preparations."

"My, my, our James is quite the gentleman," Andromache said slyly. Lily was about to reply in the affirmative, but the tone in Andromache's voice jarred her back to reality.

"Yes, well, I'm sure it was nothing. I probably just caught him when he was in a good mood or something," she said briskly, as she began collecting her things. "I'm sure he'll be back to his normal arrogant self by this evening."

"Of course," Andromache agreed with a nod, though she couldn't keep herself from grinning. Lily rolled her eyes. She wished Andromache would stop smiling like that.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

That evening after dinner James strode into the Heads' common room only to find Lily busily scribbling away at her Arithmancy homework. She had her hair thrown up in a messy bun, her uniform was in complete disarray, and she was bent so low over her books that she looked like she had developed a hunch back. James also couldn't help but notice that she seemed to be in an extremely short temper, especially since she kept balling up the piece of parchment she was writing on and throwing it over her shoulder in exasperation. James wondered how long she had been sitting at the table like that. He took a deep breath and sat down at the table across from the Head Girl.

"Busy at work I see," he commented casually. Lily's head shot up and she looked at him with wide eyes.

"What are you doing here?" she demanded. James mock pouted.

"Don't tell me you forgot about our meeting Lily." Lily's eyes grew even wider as she glanced down at her watch.

"It's already seven thirty!" she exclaimed. James nodded in the affirmative. Lily sighed and placed her head in her hand wearily. "I'm sorry James, I did forget about our meeting. I suppose I just got a little caught up in my Arithmancy homework."

"I can see that," James said with a smirk, as he looked through the sheets of parchment spread out on the table, and then at Lily's tattered appearance. Lily turned a brilliant shade of red and stared down at her knees. She would hate for anyone to find her in a state like this, but especially James Potter. "What seems to be the trouble?"

"Nothing," Lily said with a smile. "I'm just a little tired…it's hard to concentrate." James nodded knowingly, and Lily had the sneaking suspicion that he hadn't bought into her lie.

"Maybe I should come back later, when you're less tired," he suggested, getting up to leave.

"James, wait," Lily said suddenly. He turned around and looked at her expectantly. "I've been having a bit of trouble with Arithmancy lately, and well…Professor Vector actually suggested I get a tutor…and you were one of the people he recommended for me to get help from. I mean, I understand if you don't—"

"Sure, I'd love to help," he said grinning. Lily sighed in relief and glanced down at her work on the table.

"Thanks," she said quietly, as James sat back down across from her.

"Glad to be of service," he told her.

Three hours later James returned to his dormitory feeling happier than he had in weeks. He flopped down onto his bed in an overdramatic fashion and stared dreamily up at the ceiling.

"What's with you?" Peter asked, looking over at James in confusion.

"Isn't it obvious, Wormtail?" Sirius said pointedly, glancing at his best friend with a look of disgust.

"So I take it things went well with Lily," Remus said matter-of-factly as he began changing into his pajamas.

"Yes, Moony, yes they did," James said airily.

"I really don't like the way you said that."

"Well I do," Sirius said, suddenly sounding much more interested in the whole conversation. "Did you snog her yet?"

"No," James responded. Sirius let out an exasperated sigh.

"I don't understand how you can walk in here with a look like that on your face and still not have made any progress in the snogging department."

"That's because James is in loove," Peter cooed. Sirius stuck out his tongue and made a gagging noise.

"Wormtail, please, I'm still digesting my dinner," he begged.

"Actually, Sirius, I think our Peter may have a point," Remus said as he looked at James critically.

"Oh no Moony, not you too," Sirius groaned. At this James sat up and looked at his friends seriously.

"Don't worry Padfoot, I'm not in love," he assured his best mate. Remus made a noise of disbelief. "What?"

"Oh…nothing," he said, shaking his head.

"Come on Moony, what's on your mind?" James demanded. Remus was saved from responding as there was a knock on the door and Andromache stuck her head in, her eyes clamped tightly closed.

"Is everyone decent?" she asked.

"Depends…what's your definition of decent?" Sirius bantered.

"Sirius I swear…if you're walking around naked again—"

"Relax 'Dromache, we're all fully clothed," Sirius laughed. Andromache sighed and opened her eyes as she walked into the boys' dormitory.

"I come bearing news," she told them, sitting down on the end of Sirius' bed.

"You've talked to Lily!" James said anxiously. "What'd she say?"

"Apparently the whole "nice thing" is working for you, Lily is totally confused on how she feels about you," Andromache informed him. James smiled from ear to ear and fell back into his pillows.

"This is brilliant," he said happily. "Who knew Moony's advice would actually work?"

"Uh…I did," Remus said pointedly.

"Oh yeah, well…"

"Fifty-two."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

In the weeks leading up to the big dance everything seemed to be going James' way. He had continued to act nicer in front of Lily, and he had seen some serious results. Lily now had lunch regularly with the Marauders, and sometimes dinner too. James had also spent many hours alone with her in the Heads' common room, helping her with her Arithmancy, and making preparations for the dance. All in all, his plan seemed to be going splendidly, and by the time the week before the dance rolled around James was almost 95 sure that he would receive a 'yes' answer from Lily if he asked her to go to the dance with him. He loved it when life worked out for him. He was going to have to learn to listen to Remus more often.

"I love my life," James sighed dreamily as he and the Marauders headed up to the Great Hall from the dungeons.

"I swear James, if you start singing _What a Wonderful World_ again, I'm going to hex you into another dimension," Sirius warned. Remus and Peter snickered and Andromache bit back a smile.

"So, Prongs, when are you going to ask her?" Andromache inquired.

"I was thinking after dinner today," he told them. "It's now or never, right? She seems to like me more than she used to…don't you think?" Suddenly James was aware of just how desperate he sounded. He'd never noticed that before, but now that he though about it, he'd never been so nervous in all his life about a rejection.

"Definitely," Andromache assured him. James smiled, and turned around the corner. His elation was soon replaced by a different emotion, however, as he saw a group of Slytherins heading toward them.

"Snivellus," Sirius growled in James' ear. James scanned the crowd of jeering Slytherins, and saw that Snape was in fact among them, in all his sulkiness. His black eyes swept over the Gryffindors malevolently.

"James…Sirius…please," Andromache begged. "Just try to ignore them."

"Yeah right," Sirius said in an undertone.

"Come on, can we for once in our lives not start trouble?" she continued to plead. "Do you really want to risk getting banned from the dance?" Sirius and James exchanged a knowing look. Neither one wanted to be expelled from the dance, but they didn't want to appear weak in front of the Slytherins either.

"We'll behave if they do," James told her quietly. Andromache sighed in relief, and glanced back at Remus and Peter, they too looked extremely thankful that they would not have to take part in another scuffle with the Slytherins, that was if the Slytherins were in the same state of mind that they were.

Unfortunately, they were not. As the opposing groups neared each other, the Slytherins spread out to block the width of the hallway, giving the Gryffindors no chance of escape.

"Potter," Snape said contemptuously, glaring at James through his curtain of black hair.

"Snape," James returned, his lips tight. He felt his knuckles instinctively tighten around his wand handle. Did Andromache really expect him to walk past Snape in a deserted hallway and not take advantage of the opportunity?

"In case you haven't been informed, you don't own the hallway," Sirius snapped. "So if you could just step aside, we'll be on our way."

"Relax Black," said a tall, thickset boy to Snape's left by the name of Terrance Brody. "We just have a few matters of business to attend to, and then we'll let you through." A few other Slytherins sniggered at this remark. Sirius reached inside his robes for his wand. Those prats would think twice before showing any cheek.

"Sirius," Andromache warned, gripping his shoulder. Sirius cast an irritated look back at his sister, but relaxed his fingers around his wand.

"Taking orders from that whore of a sister of yours, are you Black?" Snape sneered. "Just when I thought you couldn't sink any lower."

"Still not as low as you, Snivellus. Are you still Lucius' bitch?" Sirius spat angrily. He would have gone for the bastard's skinny little neck, except Andromache still had somewhat of a death grip on his arm. Sirius's comments, however, were enough to get things started. Within a matter of seconds everyone had their wands out, and jinxes were flying all about the hall.

It was while all this was happening that Lily entered the hall.

"AS HEADGIRL I DEMAND THAT YOU STOP THIS AT ONCE!" she shouted. Everyone froze. The Slytherins that were not at the mercy of the Marauders took off running down the corridor, and Peter peered around from a suit of armor he had been cowering behind. Andromache cast one glance at where Sirius and James stood terrorizing Snape and then looked over at Lily, who was desperately trying to stop the Slytherins from escaping. She still had not spotted the Marauders in all the confusion, so there was still a chance they could at least get James out of the way before she did.

"Remus, you've got to help me distract Lily," she begged, grabbing him by the arm and dragging him over to where the redhead was busily taking down names.

"Do you have a plan?" he asked as they hurried along.

"As of right now…no," she responded. Remus rolled his eyes.

"You know, it's a wonder that we're all still alive," he commented. Andromache ignored his sarcasm as they finally approached Lily.

"Andromache! Remus!" she shouted in shock. "You two were involved in this?"

"Lily, wait, let me explain…" Andromache began, hoping to God that Sirius and James could hear them arguing, and were busy making an escape.

"I might have expected this from you, Andromache, but Remus! You're a prefect!" Lily screamed, her face reddening in anger.

"Yes," Remus agreed, "but circumstances aside, we actually have a very good reason for—"

"Detention! Both of you!" Lily screeched.

"Lily, you can't," Andromache protested.

"Oh yes I can," she responded angrily.

"Detention?" Remus sputtered. "I _don't_ get detention."

"Well, apparently that's changed," Lily scoffed.

"I can't believe you're actually going to give _us_ detention for living up to our duties as loyal friends! We were only protecting James and Sirius from getting killed by—" Lily's eyes widened in outrage, as she took in Remus's words. Andromache grabbed Remus by the scruff of the neck and began shaking him violently.

"Remus I'll effing shag you in detention if you just STOP TALKING!" Andromache shouted hysterically.

"James was involved in this?" Lily demanded, her voice quiet and vehement. Andromache immediately dropped Remus and looked at her friend with a smile.

"What?" she asked innocently, feigning a laugh. "James? Involved in a scuffle with a group of Slytherins? Please Lily…you're too funny, really…"

"Andromache!" Lily said firmly, glaring at her friend with eyes that could shoot daggers.

"Exactly what definition of the word 'involved' are we using here?" she asked, in a last attempt to stop Lily from doing anything they all might regret later. Lily pushed past them and stormed over to where James and Sirius were towering over Snape and two of his companions.

"Dammit!" Andromache muttered, burying her face in her hands. "Why do you have to be so touchy about getting detention?" she shouted, giving Remus a shove.

"Are you really going to blame this on me?" he demanded, as they collected Peter and slowly walked over to where James was about to get executed.

"No, I'll just blame it on Snape, he's an all purpose scapegoat," she sighed in exasperation.

"James I can't believe you!" Lily shouted as Snape was helped to his feet by his friends and they stalked out of the corridor. "You're Head Boy; you should be setting an example for the other students, not getting into fights in empty hallways."

"Look, I don't get into fights if I don't have a good reason," James argued in his defense. "I had to duel with Snape and his stupid gang of Slytherins."

"Please," Lily said in disbelief, "this coming from the boy who used to jinx people if they looked at him the wrong way in our fifth year."

"I was a different person then," James said angrily.

"No, you're the same person," Lily shot back. "I was just stupid enough to fall for your little act for awhile."

"I wasn't acting," James shouted. "And you're the one who's different."

"Excuse me?" Lily demanded.

"You heard me. What happened to the tender, kind-hearted girl I've had a crush on since fourth year? You've been masquerading as her all this time, when really you're just a pompous little snot. You expect everyone to be perfect when you're not even perfect yourself, and I'm not going to try and live up to your expectations anymore." James stormed across the corridor, leaving Lily in a state of utter disbelief, and just as he was about to turn into another hallway, he spun around and looked at Lily with the most heartbroken look she had ever seen.

"You know what? I'm glad this happened, it's shown me what an idiot I've been," he told her quietly, and with that he disappeared.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

"Prongs open this door right now!" Sirius shouted as he pounded on the door to the seventh year boys' dormitory. "I mean it; I don't want to have to get rough with you!" Andromache rolled her eyes, and pushed her way to the front of the column.

"Have you forgotten you're a wizard Sirius?" she asked. "_Alohamora_." The lock clicked open and Andromache pushed the door inward.

"Well if you want to do things the easy way," Sirius said, rolling his eyes. They entered the dorm room and found James lying on his bed, staring up at the ceiling.

"James?" Peter asked tentatively. "You all right?"

"Fine Wormtail," he responded with a forced smile. "So, how many weeks of detention did ol' Evans give us?"

"Evans?" Andromache asked in disbelief. He was back to using her surname again.

"Three," Sirius responded, surveying his best friend carefully. "You sure you're all right Prongs?" James chuckled and stood up.

"Of course I'm all right," he said, with such mock enthusiasm that he almost made himself throw up. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well, after what just happened with Lily, we thought maybe…" Remus began, but James waved him off.

"Please, that? It's just another pursuit attempt failed," he said casually. "I'll bounce back. It's not like I was in love with her or anything." Sirius exchanged a concerned look with the others as James turned his back to them and began rooting around in his trunk for something.

"James…" Andromache said softly, stepping forward. He stood up quickly and headed toward the bathroom.

"Look, can we talk later? I was going to take a shower," he told them. The others all nodded, and watched James head into the bathroom.

"He sure does look like he had his stomach ripped out, doesn't he?" Sirius sighed, once the bathroom door had closed. "I think you were right Moony."

"For once I wish I wasn't," Remus said gloomily, sinking down onto his bed.

"So what are we going to do?" Peter asked, wondering if there was any way to get things back to the way they used to be.

"What can we do? You don't exactly "bounce back" from having your heart broken," Andromache said.

"I wouldn't imagine so," Sirius scoffed.

The next few days passed by quite unhappily for the Marauders. No matter how hard they tried they couldn't get James out of his bad mood, and he had taken to spending all his free time lying around the dormitory. He had even stopped in the preparation for the dance, which he also had announced he was not planning on attending. They had also seen almost nothing of Lily since the incident, as she had taken to appearing only for classes and meals, and anytime Andromache tried to go talk to her she hurried away.

"This is so stupid," Sirius whispered to Andromache as they climbed the spiral staircase up to the boys' dormitory.

"It's worth a shot, maybe he'll change his mind," she countered. Sirius snorted.

"Yeah right, Mr. Thickhead of the Universe?" he scoffed. They stopped abruptly as they came upon the door to the dormitory. Sirius took a deep breath and entered. James was lounging on his bed reading a Quidditch magazine. He had already showered and was in his pajamas. Sirius gave Andromache an "I told you so" look, but she shook her head and stepped forward.

"Hey Prongs, we were just heading off to the dance and we came up here to see if maybe you changed your mind," she said smiling hopefully.

"Nope, sorry," he told them.

"Are you sure?" she pressed. "This thing was your brain child after all; don't you want to be there to see how it turns out?" James put down his magazine and looked up at his friends with an appreciative smile.

"That's okay, I'd rather not." Andromache nodded with a soft smile, and exchanged a despairing look with Sirius.

"Well, I guess we'll see you later, Prongs," Sirius said as they exited. James nodded and watched as they headed back down the spiral staircase. He sighed heavily and went back to reading his magazine. If they thought he was about to go down to a dance he had spent over a month planning with Lily, they were sadly mistaken. She was most definitely going to be there to make sure everything went off without a hitch, and he was really not in the mood to be in her presence when he didn't have to be.

Thirty minutes later he could hear the music floating up from the Great Hall. He smiled to himself as he thought about how nice the Hall must look; he had dedicated a whole week to organizing the decorating committee. A part of him did wish he could have just one peek at the dance, just to see how it was going, but he was sure Sirius and the others would tell him all about it when they got back. He was just drifting off to sleep when he heard the dormitory door open. He lifted his head, thinking maybe he had been asleep and just not realized it and now the boys had returned, but it was not the Marauders that had slipped into the room, but Lily.

James had to admit she looked quite lovely. She was wearing a nice green cocktail dress with a deep V, and she had her hair done up in an elegant bun with little red ringlets streaming down and framing her face. She looked so nice it was almost enough for James to forgive her. She smiled at him weakly and he felt his knees melting, which seemed odd, because he wasn't aware that knees could melt. He also wasn't aware that his heart could actually beat so hard and not explode right out of his chest. This night was full of oddities to be sure.

"You look nice," James managed to say, though the comment did have the biting sarcasm he had intended.

"Thanks," Lily said softly. "So do you…well…" She blushed and looked down at the floor. He sat up and tossed his magazine to the side.

"Can I help you?" he inquired, raising an eyebrow. That statement had come out just as he had intended. Pissed and annoyed as hell that Lily was invading his last safe haven.

"You weren't at the dance," Lily said, and James noticed tears were shining in her eyes.

"Yeah, well I didn't feel like going. Suddenly the whole thing seemed kinda stupid," he said, looking at her curiously, though he still managed to keep an edge to his voice. He wondered why she looked like she was going to cry.

"Yeah…stupid…" Lily whispered, her voice sounding strangely strangled. James pulled himself to the end of his bed and looked up at her warily. "You know, the only reason I went was because I thought you might show up. I wanted to talk about what happened the other day." James shrugged.

"What's to talk about?"

"I wanted to tell you that I'm sorry," she said quietly, and James saw that tears were now streaming down her cheeks. "You were right; you shouldn't have to change yourself just to get my attention."

"Lily, are you crying?" James asked, standing up and wiping the tears away from her cheeks with his thumb.

"I don't want you to change, James," she whispered, and she pressed her lips to his forcefully before he could say another word. James felt like his head was going to explode with all the questions and emotions that had just rushed through him as Lily pried his lips apart with her own. This had to be some sort of biblical sign of the apocalypse: Lily Evans initiating a kiss with James Potter? Even he had to admit, he was a bit surprised. He was distracted from all further pondering as Lily pulled his glasses off and set them on the bedside table.

There was a loud pounding on the door and Lily and James separated quickly.

"What?" James demanded, sounding extremely flustered and agitated.

"Can we please come in already? We're dying out here!" Sirius begged. James looked at Lily in confusion, but she merely smiled at him.

"You can come in now," she shouted back to them. There was a cry of joy from Sirius as he opened the door; he and the others piled into the room.

"Okay, please tell me you guys aren't fighting anymore," Peter said desperately.

"Oh…we're not fighting," James said grinning at Lily, who blushed furiously.

"I know that look!" Sirius exclaimed, pointing at James. "This boy's been snogged."

"What?" Andromache said smiling. "Lily is this true?"

"Well…"

"Yes!" Sirius shouted, burying James in a hug. "I knew you had it in you, Prongs." Lily and James merely laughed as Sirius cackled happily about their finally getting together.

"One hundred sixty-five," Remus announced with a smirk.

-The End-


End file.
